


Strawberry milk

by inrainbow_s



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Banter, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Pining, Slice of Life, based on the little skit they did for the white day video, just seonghwa overthinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 17:42:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30075939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inrainbow_s/pseuds/inrainbow_s
Summary: Seonghwa debates himself whether to give Hongjoong a White Day present or not.
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 6
Kudos: 96





	Strawberry milk

**Author's Note:**

> i forgot to post this yesterday lol just pretend it was made for white day  
> enjoy!

Seonghwa woke up twenty minutes before the time his alarm had been set to go off.

He had gone to bed a little bit over three hours ago, after several passionate rounds of gaming with Wooyoung, knowing that he was going to regret it in the morning.

Luckily, his brain worked in a way in which even if he was in need of sleep, it would make him wake up in time for school, not being a fan of having to rush up to make it on time, or worse, being late. Seonghwa was responsible that way.

Also, if he got there early enough he'd be able to nap until class started.

After going through his usual morning routine that included an exaggerated amount of yawning, he gave a quiet goodbye to his mom, who still had a little time before having to wake up and start her day, and walked out of the house.

School wasn't far away, which he was grateful for, since he didn't have to take the bus or the subway and squeeze himself in between all the other passengers.

Yet, even during March with winter coming to an end, the mornings were still quite chilly, making him pull up the neck of his zip up track jacket to hide his face as much as possible before quickly putting his hands back in his pockets.

Seonghwa felt relieved when he got into the school building and quickly climbed up the stairs that led to the third years' floor. The sooner he got to his classroom the more he'd get to sleep.

He slid open the door of his classroom, basked in the warmth of the heater, then hurriedly walked up to his desk where his much anticipated nap would take place.

As soon as Seonghwa moved his chair and sit down,

"You're late again?"

Kim Hongjoong, the evil minion, also his classmate who sat next to him.

"Don't talk to me, I'm tired." _I'm also fifteen minutes early_ , Seonghwa didn't say the last bit because Hongjoong obviously knew what time it was and most likely was trying to get on his nerves -he did that a lot- but Seonghwa wasn't about to give in to banter and let Hongjoong ruin his precious minutes of naptime.

"Stayed up playing games?"

Seonghwa hummed from where he was hiding from the light and trying to conceal some sleep. Apparently, his non-committal response was enough for Hongjoong to stop trying to make conversation, and so, Seonghwa was met with silence and peace.

Peace that lasted until he remembered something he had in his bag.

Something he had bought yesterday.

Something he prepared to give out to someone.

To Hongjoong.

See, Seonghwa had a crush on Hongjoong. Has had a crush on Hongjoong for the last three years, since he started being the student that sat next to him from day one of highschool.

It was quickly assumed by Seonghwa. He wasn't the type to deny or fight his feelings, and after meeting Hongjoong he just knew he was bound to like him that way.

Seonghwa had been quite shy the first time they exchanged words, being alone for the first time after attending a different school than his friends, but since he knew this person was going to be the one beside him for the entire school year, he decided to put away his nervousness and talk to the boy.

Apparently, the boy had a similar idea, since they both turned to each other at the same time, blurting "Hey" at the other.

That had made them both laugh, and then Hongjoong had gestured him to speak first, making Seonghwa introduce himself and ask for the other boy's name.

It had happened rather quick, Seonghwa liking Hongjoong. That very first day they realized they had a lot of things in common, like strawberry flavored everything except rainbow sherbet when it came to ice cream, plus their hatred for mint chocolate. They were also wearing the exact same pair of shoes which lead them to talk about clothing and brands they liked, music taste they also shared, and overall similar interests.

Hongjoong also had a very pretty smile and both ears pierced, which made him very cool, and Seonghwa... well, he already knew he liked boys, so it wasn't a surprise when the thought of finding Hongjoong attractive crossed his mind.

He wasn't going to act on it anyway. First of all because he wasn't insane, he had just met the boy, and second of all because he really wanted to be friends with Hongjoong, so he pushed that thought away and continued their conversation.

It could have been the beginning of a great friendship, but life had other plans for them.

Just as Seonghwa and Hongjoong had a lot of similar interests, they also had different ones. Or maybe they shared the same interests but in different aspects, or they enjoyed the same things but on different levels.

For example, both of them liked sports, but Seonghwa liked volleyball while Hongjoong liked football, which led them to join different clubs.

Then both of them liked music, but Seonghwa enjoyed dancing and Hongjoong liked making songs, so around the time Seonghwa decided to join a dance academy, Hongjoong took on a part time job to save up and buy a better laptop to produce music.

During lunch break, they would hang out with other students they'd met through club activities and the like, and sometimes they would work on group or pair projects together in class.

Basically, their friendship turned out to be one limited to the boring part of their lives, which was studying.

What didn't change, didn't fall apart, didn't simply go away, surprisingly, was Seonghwa's little crush on Hongjoong.

Even if they didn't share that much time outside school, Hongjoong was still a constant presence in Seonghwa's life.

They still saw each other at school every day, they still talked to each other in between classes, commented on their lives and struggles, borrowed each other's supplies, joked around with each other.

With time Hongjoong had also gotten cooler, he had gotten done more piercings on his ears that he decorated with pretty earrings. Had started drawing and painting and reforming his shoes and bags too. He didn't grow taller, which was a fact Seonghwa used against him since himself was already a head taller than him. Hongjoong would hit his arm when he mentioned that and Seonghwa would tease him about it even though in his eyes it only made him cuter.

Hongjoong still had a pretty smile.

Seonghwa's crush on Hongjoong had never been the heart fluttering, blushing, butterflies in stomach type.

As time passed, it was still there as a heavy weight on Seonghwa's chest every time Hongjoong laughed wholeheartedly at his dumb jokes and Seonghwa had to look away because it was too much.

Still, Seonghwa didn't think he was in love with Hongjoong.

Seonghwa was handsome, he was aware of it, if being told so by his friends and being confessed to by a quite a few girls was enough evidence to prove that point.

The official reason he rejected love confessions was because he didn't 'have time to date, with school and club and all'.

The real reason was because, well, he wasn't interested in girls.

And if his mind went to Hongjoong at the mention of love, he wouldn't pay much attention to it.

That was until exactly one month ago, on February 14th, Valentines Day.

Some people would buy chocolate, others would make it with their own hands for it to be more meaningful, all with the intention of giving them to the person they liked in the form of a love confession.

Now, even if Seonghwa wasn't in love with Hongjoong, something in him was unreasonably loyal to this little crush of his, which resulted in him rejecting any chocolate that would come his way on this specific date.

He didn't give an explanation per se, only politely declined them with what he hoped was a warm smile and an apology.

Hongjoong, on the other hand, being quite popular for his pretty self and flirty personality, would take any and every piece of chocolate that was given to him.

A girl had even rushed into their classroom right before last period started, looking determined and blushing furiously, and walked straight to Hongjoong's desk to hand him this heart shaped chocolate wrapped in transparent paper with a red ribbon and a note.

Hongjoong had accepted it and thanked her with a smile and a wink.

_A wink._

Seonghwa, who had witnessed the whole scene display right before his eyes, didn't realize he was talking out loud until he heard his voice.

"Don't you feel bad for them? Pretending to accept their feelings like that?"

Hongjoong had the nerve to look at him with big eyes and arched brows, feigning surprise.

"Their feelings? By accepting these I'm acknowledging the work they put into it and the money they spent on it for me, unlike an ungrateful _someone_ I know."

Seonghwa was taken aback, the implication making him frown.

"Valentines chocolate is given to confess one's feelings, by accepting it you're also accepting the feelings that come with it. You're basically saying you like them back, which is why I reject them."

"You're wrong. Chocolate on Valentine's Day means confession. _Reciprocity_ , however, comes on White Day. I'm not planning on handing out any presents that day."

Hongjoong finished speaking and put a chocolate in his mouth.

"You're the worst."

"Don't be jealous, most of these are from my girl friends."

"I'm not jealous." Seonghwa huffed.

Ignoring his words, Hongjoong got up from his seat and left something on Seonghwa's desk.

"Here, to prove my point. Happy Valentines!"

Seonghwa looked at the Strawberry milk in front of him.

"What is this?"

Hongjoong rolled his eyes.

"My Valentines gift to you."

"This isn't chocolate though?"

"It's sweet isn't it? It should count. I even bought it myself."

Seonghwa grabbed the small straw and took off its wrapping before putting it into the little bottle.

Hongjoong knew strawberry milk was Seonghwa's favorite, it was Hongjoong's too. And even if it was to tease him, a small, dark, hidden part of him wanted to think of it as an actual Valentine's gift, as a confession.

The thought made him flustered and he quickly took a sip of his milk before it could escalate further. When he turned his gaze to the side he noticed Hongjoong looking at him with one of those stupid smug smiles on his face.

"You're really the worst."

Now, to any person that didn't have feelings for Kim Hongjoong, that could have been nothing but a silly moment, something to be forgotten shortly.

To Seonghwa, it was like some sort of curse that he had to carry and would only go away in a month's time.

Every day he debated himself whether to give something back to Hongjoong on White Day or not.

Maybe he would take it as a joke and they would both laugh about it.

The thing is, it wouldn't be a joke, it would be Seonghwa giving out his heart and risking being laughed at for it.

Ultimately, he went to the convenience store the night before White Day to get some ice cream for his family, and decided to buy something and take it to school the next day. If he felt like it, he would give it to Hongjoong, if not, then he'd keep it to himself.

That very night he got so anxious he couldn't sleep at all.

Was he really going to do it? What if Hongjoong thought he was weird and decided not to talk to him anymore? _That's ridiculous, Hongjoong isn't like that._ Then what if... he accepted Seonghwa's feelings then? What was he going to do? That's definitely not gonna happen. He probably won't even give his present to him, he was too much of a coward to do it.

_Ugh._

Seonghwa quickly typed a message on his phone and threw it on his bed. Not even a minute passed and the screen lit up. It was Wooyoung's reply.

That's how he ended up playing games to distract himself from thinking about Hongjoong and hopefully get sleepy enough that he'd fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

But plans fail sometimes, and his competitive self couldn't go to bed before winning this thing at least once, which is why he ended up getting only three hours of sleep and was now trying to nap before class started.

The key word being 'trying' because he was just thinking about whether or not give the thing in his bag to Hongjoong.

_Whatever, I'm too tired for this._

"Hey."

Hongjoong looked up from his seat, his attention now on Seonghwa.

"Hm?"

Feeling entirely awkward and flustered, Seonghwa reached for his bag and opened it to search for the item he was about to give to the boy sitting next to him.

He took his time to do it, definitely too much time to look for something that was right there, but it was definitely better than looking at Hongjoong's face.

"It's nothing, really..."

He held out a small bottle of strawberry milk. It was still a bit cool since he had kept it in the fridge all night.

"What's this?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's strawberry milk."

"I know what it is, but why are you giving it to me?"

"No reason, I just bought it."

That was clearly not a reasonable response but it was one nonetheless. Seonghwa was proud of himself for being able to speak at all.

"Seonghwa, you know what day it is today?"

Seonghwa pointedly avoided Hongjoong's face as he pretended to think really hard while scratching his nape with his free hand.

"Uhh... March 14th? Are you going to take it or...?"

"... You're so unoriginal."

Hongjoong had the nerve to be amused by the whole thing while Seonghwa's heart was about to come out of his chest.

He decided he had enough of this mini torture and started retracting his arm, only to be stopped by something on top of his hand encircling the bottle.

It was Hongjoong's hand. Tiny and warm on his skin. Seonghwa was positively blushing now.

"Alright, I'll take it."

Hongjoong was now smiling, cheeks reaching up to where the bags under his eyes made them look like pretty crescents.

"Thank you."

That was the softest 'thank you' Seonghwa had heard in his entire life. He couldn't do this anymore, he needed to breathe and he couldn't do it if Hongjoong kept looking at him like that.

"Yeah, enjoy it."

_Enjoy it! Pathetic._

"I'm gonna sleep for a bit."

Seonghwa didn't wait for a response and quickly hid his burning face in his arms on top of his desk. His ears were probably betraying him but honestly at this point nothing mattered anymore.

"Seonghwa?"

_Please just spare me of this suffering._

"Hm?"

"You always go to that arcade after school right? When you don't have practice."

"Mhm."

"I'll go with you today."

That made Seonghwa look up with a speed that couldn't have been good for his neck.

"What?!"

He hadn't intended to sound almost angry, he was just surprised.

"You don't want me to?"

Hongjoong was only pretending to feel hurt, and of course it did something to Seonghwa's heart, that weak little thing.

"No!"

_Calm down oh my God..._.

"I mean, no, I do want you to come with me."

Hongjoong was smiling again, all pretty teeth and bright eyes. It was like staring directly at the sun.

"Cool. Sleep a little, I'll wake you up when the professor's here."

"Y-yeah."

Seonghwa hid his face again.

He didn't sleep at all.


End file.
